EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISCLOSURES OF FAULTY PRACTICES at public companies have led to restrictions on services a CPA may provide to audit clients. IN 2001 AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE RULES gave CPAs more freedom to buy and sell securities, increasing the risk that firms may violate laws against insider trading. THE SEC
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Information management and technology assurance
Practice Management Article the Best in 2001
AICPA Chairman and CEO Barry C. Melancon presents the Journal of Accountancy’s 2001 Lawler Award for best article of the year to Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, for “ Nine Ways to Make Your Firm More Exciting ” (Mar.01, page 63). In his article Mendlowitz, a partner of Mendlowitz Weitsen LLP in
Home Is Where the Office Is
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPA FIRMS THAT USE WORK-FROM-HOME arrangements with eligible staff say there are clear operational benefits: They save money because there’s less absenteeism, they increase production, and they are able to keep high-quality employees longer. SITUATIONS THAT OTHERWISE MIGHT take a CPA out of the workforce—such as a
It’s Time to E-File.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AS THE IRS MOVES TOWARD ITS GOAL OF HAVING 80% of all tax returns filed electronically by 2007, the time has come for CPA firms to take steps to register themselves as electronic return originators (EROs). THERE ARE BENEFITS TO USING ELECTRONIC FILING. They include the perception
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A CPA/VALUATOR PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE in merger and acquisition (M&A) engagements. He or she helps to organize the transaction, mitigate trouble spots, establish an objective marketplace value for a client’s business and structure the deal along with attorneys, appraisers, bankers, financiers and regulators. A BUYER’S VALUATOR
Follow the Leader
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE FIVE KEY MARKETING ROLES for a managing partner are ambassador, relationship manager, business-development manager, head of research and development (R&D) and communications director. MANAGING PARTNERS SHOULD BE ACTIVE in industry task forces and boards to stay on top of the latest trends and technologies. The ambassador
Evaluating Tax Software
ax-preparation-software products generally received higher marks from practitioners this year than last year. That’s the conclusion of a survey conducted by the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) and shared with the JofA . A total of 977 NATP members responded to the survey, reporting their experience with the
Make ’Em Pay Up
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A FIRM SHOULD SCREEN NEW CLIENTS for fiscal responsibility and use an engagement letter to describe exactly what services it will and won’t perform, what reports it will issue and the fee structure—hourly billing, project fees or other means of computing fees. The letter should name the entities
A Perspective on Audit Malpractice Claims
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs CAN USE DATA ON AUDIT MALPRACTICE claims filed with CNA, which underwrites 22,000 CPA firms in the AICPA professional liability insurance program, to help them avoid high-cost claims when they audit nonpublic entities such as private companies, governments or NPOs. MOST NONPUBLIC AUDIT CLAIMS ARISE
An Ethics Quiz
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs NEED TO BE MINDFUL of ethical issues in performing client services. They must be sensitive to public perceptions and expectations and must use informed judgment as well as adhere to professional standards. THREE OF THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS made against small to midsize CPA firms involve
Privacy Framework Helps CPAs Protect Consumers
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COMPANIES REQUIRE HELP understanding and complying with the confusing array of privacy rules, and CPAs can meet that need. HIGHLY PUBLICIZED CORPORATE FAILURES to protect confidential data have heightened consumers’ awareness of threats to their privacy. CONSUMERS SURVEYED SAID they would rather do business with companies that
Meet the Press
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEING A RELIABLE SOURCE of timely information for busy editors and reporters can give a CPA who is a sole practitioner or in a small practice a significant marketplace advantage. A practitioner can pursue this opportunity by developing a relationship with local media. TO BECOME A KEY LOCAL
Offer Family-Business Solutions
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MILLIONS OF BABY BOOMERS who own businesses will approach retirement during the next decade. They will need help with the 10 key issues that affect management and succession. THE MYRIAD FAMILY-BUSINESS CONSULTING opportunities include improving organization design, creating greater operational efficiency, developing effective leadership, organizing fair compensation plans,
Help Clients Take Measure
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT (PM) IDENTIFIES, monitors and improves those business activities that affect a company’s profitability. The method uses both leading (future) and lagging (past) indicators to assess how well a business is meeting its targets in the present. THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL STEPS FOR A PM system are: Prepare
Pay for Performance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FIRMS THAT PUT PRODUCTIVITY CRITERIA in writing help principals stay focused on growing the firm as well as the bottom line. MEASURABLE PARTNER ACCOMPLISHMENTS include the number of new engagements, realization and niche development. Personnel development, image building and public relations are important partner accountabilities, too. ONE FIRM
Accounting
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of the profession, AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon backs reforms—including
Securities
The GAO releases the results of a study ( www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-302 ) it recently conducted to determine whether the SEC’s logistic capabilities are keeping pace with the rapid increase in filings, applications and examinations that make up its workload. While the GAO praised the commission’s record of achievement, it nevertheless found
Privacy
Most consumers worry that corporations mishandle their personal information, says a Harris Interactive survey the AICPA and Ernst & Young LLP jointly commissioned to help practitioners better understand privacy risks their clients and employers face. Eighty-four percent of respondents supported requiring companies to obtain independent verification they follow their stated
Government Accounting
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board requests comments on the following exposure drafts ( www.fasab.gov/exposure.htm ): Elimination of the Category National Defense Property, Plant and Equipment (responses due by May 20), Target Audience and Qualitative Characteristics for the Consolidated Financial Report of the United States Government (responses due by June
Banking
The Treasury Department’s Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) advises savings associations to consult it before they consider transferring to an external entity their high-risk assets—such as nonperforming loans—when the bank retains significant credit risk related to those assets and simultaneously provides considerable funding to the receiving entity ( www.ots.treas.gov/docs/25156.pdf ).
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